Resident rejects claims Sheku Bayoh stamped on PC

Kevin Nelson was giving evidence at a public inquiry into Mr Bayoh's death

A member of the public said he did not think it possible that a female PC was stamped on by Sheku Bayoh.

Kevin Nelson told a public inquiry into Mr Bayoh's death seven years ago that he had watched the incident unfold from his living room in Fife.

He said Mr Bayoh had struck Nicole Short on the head with a fist and moved away without stopping.

But he rejected claims by police that Mr Bayoh used his feet to attack Ms Short on the ground.

Mr Bayoh was pronounced dead after being restrained by officers during the incident in Hayfield Road, Kirkcaldy, on 3 May 2015.

Two officers previously told the inquiry Mr Bayoh had punched Ms Short, causing her to fall on the ground, before "stomping on her back".

• Six officers restrained Sheku Bayoh in street

• PC feared Sheku Bayoh had killed his colleague

• PC says she feared Sheku Bayoh would kill her

Angela Grahame QC, senior counsel to the inquiry, put to Mr Nelson the image of PC Craig Walker showing how he claimed the stomp happened.

"Is it possible when his arms were raised and you saw him with his arms raised that he was stamping on the female officer?" the QC asked him.

The 42-year-old said: "I don't think it's possible, no."

Mr Nelson added: "She was down and had moved away from him, as soon as she was going down that's when he changed course."

Sheku Bayoh died after being restrained by officers in Kirkcaldy in May 2015

On Tuesday, Mr Nelson described to the the inquiry the moment he saw officers arrive at the scene just metres from his front door.

He said he had seen Mr Bayoh walking how anyone would walk on a morning with bad weather. He told the inquiry he was walking at a "pretty brisk pace, arms moving, not a swagger or a mission".

Mr Nelson said he saw spray being deployed by officers.

Seconds later Mr Bayoh changed direction, Mr Nelson told the inquiry, and added he started "throwing punches".

"It was just wild swinging. Both arms were going," said Mr Nelson.

"It didn't look like, I'm not a boxing expert, but it didn't look in any controlled way."

He told Ms Grahame he saw Ms Short being hit, and her starting to fall down. Mr Bayoh then stopped swinging, the inquiry was told, and looked as if he was trying to get away.

"Then the policeman just grabbed him. Almost tackled him," he said.

'Collapsed scrum'

Mr Nelson said he made his way from his window to his gate, which took between 12 and 15 seconds, and when he got out he saw a "mound of people on the pavement".

He described it as a "collapsed scrum" on top of Mr Bayoh, and it looked like there were arms and legs everywhere.

He also said he did not see Det Con Ashley Tomlinson strike Mr Bayoh on his head two or three times with a baton.

Det Con Tomlinson has told the inquiry he used what was potentially lethal force because he thought Mr Bayoh had killed Ms Short by stamping on her.

Mr Nelson also told the inquiry two men had knocked on his door saying they were from the police months after the incident. It was only later he said that he realised that one of them was not a serving officer but a former detective.

"The guy was telling me negative things about Sheku," he said.

"I realised he wasn't representing the police a good while after when I heard something on the radio that the police couldn't comment on the investigation."

Mr Nelson also said he was not paid for an interview he gave for a BBC Panorama programme, which aired in January 2021.

He said he had decided to give the interview after reading in newspapers and hearing what had happened from locals that contradicted what he had seen that day.

PC Kayleigh Good also gave evidence at the inquiry

In evidence to the inquiry before Lord Bracadale, a series of police officers have been asked if race had played a factor in the way they dealt with Mr Bayoh.

On Tuesday, in a tearful statement, PC Kayleigh Good said she had made a mistake referring to Mr Bayoh as "coloured" in her statement to investigators looking into the incident.

"I know I used the word coloured. I never meant to cause any offence," she said.

"I was very young in service at the time.

"I know it's not an acceptable word to use.

"I was trying to be polite and not say the wrong thing. I made a mistake and used the incorrect term."

The inquiry has previously heard that six officers were involved in restraining Mr Bayoh before he stopped breathing in Hayfield Road in Kirkcaldy on 3 May 2015.

He was taken to Victoria Hospital but did not survive the incident.

The inquiry, being held at Capital House in Edinburgh, continues.